The marine species of Cladophora (Chlorophyta) from the South ...

species by Hanyuda et al. (2002) revealed a basal lineage within the class, containing
a mixture of marine and freshwater species of Cladophora and other genera. The
revisions of van den Hoek (1963, 1982), van den Hoek & Womersley (1984) and
van den Hoek & Chihara (2000) are usually considered to represent the best taxonomic
treatments of the genus Cladophora. Stegenga et al. (1997: 102-112, pls 20-23)
studied the Cladophora species along the South African West Coast. Other papers
dealing with the genus in South Africa are Levring (1938), Papenfuss (1940a, 1940b,
1943), Simons (1960, 1969, 1977), Seagrief (1967, 1980, 1988), and some of the
earlier publications such as Chamisso (1821), C. Agardh (1824), Suhr (1834, 1840),
Kützing (1849) and Martens (1868). Table 1 gives an overview of the Cladophora
species recorded along the South and East Coast of South Africa (from Cape Agulhas
to the Mozambican border) together with morphological characters, ecology and
references to more detailed descriptions and illustrations. This paper deals with the
marine Cladophora species along the South African East Coast, with the emphasis
on the flora of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Material and methods
Specimens examined were collected along the South African east coast on several occasions between
November 1995 and February 2001. The collecting sites were located between Haga-Haga Mouth
(north of East London) and Kosi Bay (northern KwaZulu-Natal) (Fig. 1). Specimens were processed
as herbarium specimens in the field and preserved in 5% formalin in seawater. Voucher specimens are
deposited in GENT and BOL. Herbarium abbreviations follow Holmgren et al. (1990).
Fig. 1. The South African East Coast, showing the sampling sites.
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